Acts 3: The Beautiful Gate and Solomon’s Portico

ACTS 3:1-6 + ACTS 3:11-13

Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple;
who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms.
And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.”
So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.
Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
ACTS 3:1-6

Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed.
So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.
ACTS 3:11-13

Every word in The Bible has spiritual significance, and The Lord uses not only numbers, actions, people and stories to lead us into understanding, but places also. That is particularly worthy of note in Acts 3 where we are shown the disciples Peter and John — begin the ‘great commission’. And the chosen place is Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem.

Something which exercises the minds of Biblical scholars is ‘which was “the beautiful gate”?’ From what I can gather, it is reckoned to be the ‘Nicanor Gate’, sometimes also called ‘the East Gate’ or ‘the Golden Gate’. It was also thought to be a place where miracles had occurred.

Peter and John are first shown at the Temple Gate (one of seven gates), but significantly the gate…which is called Beautiful. Beautiful used here means ‘belonging to the right hour or season; timely; flourishing’, which opens out a greater significance to our understanding. As the East Gate it ties into the spiritual pattern that the Son of God walks from the east, entering into the true Church — that is to say revealing the Spirit of the Living God — bringing salvation and healing to those who will believe in Him. Indeed, Matthew shows the significance of this east to west spiritual journey early on in his gospel writing…

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
MATTHEW 2:1-2

The lame man was troubled in his walk, but the Holy Spirit flowing through Peter and John imbued him with something more precious (and useful) than silver or gold — restoring his walk, he received life, saving his soul. The healing was in the man’s spirit, but from there manifested itself in his soul and his body — a thorough transformation.

Peter and John moved into the temple courtyard with a crowd gathering swiftly as news of the healing of the man spread, and so, on coming to Solomon’s porch — a gathering place for believers, on the east side of the temple — Peter addressed the crowd just as Jesus had done before him.

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.
And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.
Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.
But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
I and My Father are one.”
JOHN 10:22-30

A portico or porch comes from a root word meaning to stand. To stand up in the midst, to abide, to continue, covenant or establish, as well as other nuances of meaning. This suggests a place in which to set forth and establish a proposition. In other words, an open space for speaking and publicly declaring — and this Peter did. We are not told of John’s part in this, but as Jesus had set Peter as the rock on which He would build His church, we can believe that Peter was the right one for this leadership role. John may have been close to Peter, just as he was to Jesus. At this hour the acorn was sown to grow into a mighty oak. Peter spoke to the crowd and to us all in this way…

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before,
whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
ACTS 3:19-21

As a final comment, Peter spoke (verse 13) of The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers. It can be seen that these three men, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are the only men mentioned in this context. This phrase — in one form or another — is mentioned 17 times in the New King James Version, 16 times in the King James Version and 18 times in the Amplified Bible. Why are these three men from the Old Testament so favoured in this way?

We should see that Abraham is the father of us all (we are his spiritual seed) and he thus is a type of Father God. Isaac is his son who he was prepared to sacrifice thus becomes a type of Jesus Christ who was actually sacrificed on the cross. Jacob, Isaac’s son, who wrestled with the Angel of God and had his name (his nature) changed as a result, then is seen as a type for the Holy Spirit. These three are important in our understanding because they were chosen of God to reveal Himself to men in the life of men.

SAVED MY SOUL — CityAlight

A CLOSING WORD from...ANNA McCARTHY
"Any group that holds the value of an institution (religion, marriage, government, etc) higher than the value of the people inside it, is not reflecting Jesus."

LISTEN TO THIS MEDITATION HERE...

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COMING NEXT… #549 THE HONOUR OF KINGS